Sermon on the Mount cont.

 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Matthew 5:43-44

 

Of all the verses in Scripture, these two bring and blend together a wisdom that at once is both inspirational and almost seemingly impossible.  Or if not impossible, maybe feels impractical.  And if not impractical, inconvenient to say the least.   Most of the time as people of faith we have dealt with these words in the same way as when someone tells us that their second cousin twice removed in Alaska has the exact same illness we did and he at fish every day and now is cured.  We should try that!  We graciously say, “Thank you,” because that is what mama taught us to do.  We walk away thinking, “I will file that away under option “N” as in, “never gonna happen”.  

 

Part of what makes these two verses so difficult and demanding is that Jesus doesn’t tell us how!  How do we love our enemies??  How do we love the people who are wonderfully creative at pushing our buttons?  I mean there are people in my life who don’t just keep repeating the same things that get my blood boiling but seem to delight in coming up with brand-new ways every time I see them to frustrate or flummox me!  On the one hand, I have to admire their ingenuity and stick-with-it-ness.  On the other hand, just stop!!  Or Jesus, please tell me how in a world of Tweets and constant criticism and not feeling like we are enough and anger hovering in the air we breath that has taken up residence in my bones, how do we love those who are unlovable?

 

Perhaps one of the realities is that we tend to, because tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, make love one-dimensional.  Love is sugary and sweet.  Love, like meekness, is seen almost like a weakness.  Even more, love is almost exclusively reserved for romance, we’ve reduced love to a fluffy emotion, rather than holding the power of love (insert Huey Lewis and the News singing that great 80s song here ~ yes, I did just show my age!). 

 

Love is more expansive and elastic and evolving than we can ever exhaust.  Love can be expressed in a vast variety of ways, which is part of its power given the diversity of the world.  How I love Gina does look/feel/sound different than how I love my children.  How I love the members of the church looks/feels/sounds different than my family.  How I love the grocery clerk who checks me out is unique.  So, given that love can be expressed in more ways than we know, perhaps how we go about loving our enemies will not be the same as how I show love to the people who are capable of returning that love.  Maybe loving my love of enemies will have some distance and healthy boundaries.  Maybe loving my enemies will be with measured words carefully chosen rather than just reacting instantly.  Maybe loving my enemies will be quieter and not as expressive as when I am around people I feel safe. 

 

Our Buddhist brothers and sisters have a mantra of lovingkindness that starts with you as a person.  Sitting comfortably with a firm back and soft front, you center your breath, release your stress/strain with each exhale.  Then you say, “May I live in safety, may I have peace/joy/love, may I be free from pain, and may I live with ease.”  The comma between each of those four statements is a pause to let that intention guide your attention.  Then you say that for family members, pausing in-between each statement.  Then, you can say that for someone you are struggling to love.  Pro tip: the closer that frustrating person is to you, the better.  Often we want to take this to an extreme of praying for some troll on Twitter who gets under our skin or some politician who is pontificating.  For me, I might pray these four intentions for some extended family who have cut me out of their life.  Yet, I still pray that person who is part of my family tree is safe, peaceful/loved, free from pain, and has ease that day.  Pro tip number two: this is NOT a magical bean that will immediately grow into a bean stock that will change everything.  This is like water rushing/running over a rock that slowly changes the hardness of our hearts toward others.  It is millimeter-by-millimeter of fierce love taking hold.  As always, if you want to talk more about this, I would be glad to join in the journey of living these words of Jesus as more than good advice, but as good news for our world.  Amen.